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Notorious wild turkey turns up dead outside Chatham

This wild turkey had been attracting stares from several motorists near the intersection of Pioneer Line and Prince Albert Road, just outside of Chatham, Ont. The turkey, pictured here on Sunday November 29, 2015, spent weeks in the area seemingly unafraid of vehicles or humans. The bird was found dead on Thursday, January 7, 2016. Ellwood Shreve/Chatham Daily News/Postmedia Network

It's the end of the road for a wild turkey that gained local notoriety for hanging around Prince Albert Road and Pioneer Line for several weeks.

Joe and Mary Sevigny were saddened to wake up Thursday morning to find the bird lying dead across the road from their home on Prince Albert Road where the wild turkey often spent the night sleeping high up in a birch tree on their front lawn.

The couple had been watching the bird since around the beginning of November when it showed up and began attracting the attention of several passersby for its odd behaviour.

The bird appeared to have no fear as it often stood in front of vehicles stopped at the rural intersection, not even flinching when drivers honked their horns.

However, the couple said around 5-5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, they saw two men show up and watched as they tried to catch the bird. They said the turkey was moving from field-to-field and flew off avoiding capture.

They said the turkey didn't sleep in their tree Wednesday night and wonder if it would have returned to its favourite sleeping spot if hadn't been chased.

Within hours a makeshift memorial appeared at the edge of a field near the intersection, complete with cross, candle, a plastic cooked turkey and a picture of a turkey.

The couple had grown fond of the bird.

“It was Mary's pet,” said Joe, noting his wife had named it Bert, then changed it to Gert when they heard the bird may have been a female.

Ryan Gallerno, one of many local residents who often saw the bird, stopped on Thursday after seeing the turkey on the side of the road.

Having hunted turkeys, the Dresden resident told The Chatham Daily News it was a “young jake,” which is a male. He said the bird was just beginning to get a beard.

“He's a young bird,” he said.

Gallerno, who works for MSI Electrical in Dresden, has been travelling down Prince Albert Road a lot lately to do a job in Chatham, and often saw the turkey.

He said the other day, traffic was stopped as the bird stood in the intersection. He honked the company vehicle, but the bird wouldn't move.

In fact, Gallerno said, “he came right up to my window, you could practically pet it.”

He said it is unusual to see a wild turkey act this way, noting, “they're usually easily spooked.”

It was arguably one of the best known turkeys in Chatham-Kent. Within an hour of posting the bird's demise on The Chatham Daily NewsFacebook page, the post had reached more than 6,330 people and had 95 shares and dozens of comments. Some people even posted pictures they had taken of the bird.

Wild turkey that gained notoriety after spending several days hanging around Prince Albert Rd and Pioneer Line has died. #ckont